Penny Rakoff is a professor of art who teaches all levels of black and white and color photography. She received her BFA from the University of Michigan and her MFA from Rochester Institute of Technology. Her color photographs of Florida and N.E. Ohio taken with long exposures at night, have been exhibitied regionally, nationally, and internationally. Since 1991, Rakoff has also been interested in public art, site-specific installations, and community projects. In collaboration with a ceramist, she completed a mosaic tile bench with photographic images transferred to tile at the Gateway sports complex, home of the Cleveland Indians and Cavaliers. She has also done projects with school children and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Cleveland. Her public art pieces include two Rapid Transit stops, one in Cleveland and the other in Minneapolis, two public libraries, and the development of a pocket park in downtown Cleveland. Rakoff has received numerous grants and awards from the Ohio Arts Council, NOVA, and the College of Fine and Applied Arts. Her work can be found in many public and private national collections including the International Museum of Photography, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, and The Cleveland Museum of Art.